|
|
Posted by Citizen Bob on 11/07/06 15:14
On 6 Nov 2006 16:58:00 -0800, "unisellers" <unisellers@yahoo.com>
wrote:
>Are these DVD recorders with the 80GB or 160GB Hard Drives reliable?
>I've read a lot of complaints about DVD recorders ruining disks and not
>working when trying to record TV shows.
Consumer DVDRs are pretty much crap no matter what you pay. The best
thing you can do is buy a unit that works at the least cost and get an
extended warranty.
I got the Polaroid DRM-2001G HDD DVDR from W-M for $220 plus tax and I
got the 3-year extended warranty for $24 plus tax (shipping paid both
ways). The factory warranty is 90 days, so I am covered for a total of
39 months, which works out to $6.77 per month if I throw it away at
the end of the extended warranty.
I got an Insignia NS-DVDR1 at Best Buy for $110 (on sale). It has a 1
year warranty. I will not buy the extended warranty because it's too
expensive ($50 for 4 years). If the unit craps out in a year, I toss
it and it cost me $10 per month. If it makes it to 18 months, it will
have cost me the same as the Polaroid per month.
Both units play DivX/XviD which is a requirement for me.
Philips makes a decent player with a USB port. Circuit City has them
on sale for around $70. It too plays DivX/XviD. But for a few bucks
more I wanted the second recorder to catch shows that are on at the
same time and to have if I need to send the Polaroid in for warranty
repair.
The Insidnia is not suitable as a first set because it has some
nuisances. The forward and reverse are atrocious, making it almost
unusable as a DVD player. You have to shut the unit off to get the
timer recording to work, which is asinine (that little "feature" is
not even documented in the manual).
Then there's the timer setup page where all TV channels appear, not
just the ones you chose when you scanned for TV channels. And you must
scroll the numbers for everything - you can't enter them from the
keyboard.
Otherwise it's a pretty good second set for $110 plus tax and shipping
(it can be obtained only at Best Buy Online sales). It has an
externally mounted fan which is ultra quiet. That's good because
internal heat is what kills those GaAlAs laser diodes.
--
"First and last, it's a question of money. Those men who own the earth
make the laws to protect what they have. They fix up a sort of fence or
pen around what they have, and they fix the law so the fellow on the
outside cannot get in. The laws are really organized for the protection of
the men who rule the world. They were never organized or enforced to do
justice. We have no system for doing justice, not the slightest in the world."
--Clarence Darrow
Navigation:
[Reply to this message]
|